Reviews (page 7 of 7)
I felt like this was really tranquil, nice to listen to when you're doing silly little tasks around the house
A difficult album to rate. African Blue’s is certainly a new listen for me. It’s not great but it’s not terrible either. All of it blends together quite well. Would make more than excellent music to have on in the background though!
good afro-funk-folk-etc
Didn’t know what to think about this going in. I was ready to give it my standard “3” for world music that I don’t know enough about to fairly judge. But - maybe because it’s more recent or maybe because I just really dig the bluesy vibe - I’m breaking my rule and bumping this one up. I’ll come back to this one.
Some nice groovy beats
Cool
Interesting listen with a creole jazz sound with North African influences. Enjoyed the harmonica and bayou sound of the opening Erdi.
Unique sound, not like anything I have listened to before.
Smooth.
Je suis vraiment heureuse de sortir de la musique occidentale et de découvrir cet artiste. L'harmonica, les accents blues, sa voix m'ont touchée. Il y a quelque chose de lancinant dans les motifs répétés, qui crée un effet analogue au tarab de la musique arabe.
This is going in my 'albums for working' stack.
My immediate thought was to compare this with the Songhoy Blues album (then I learned they were both from Mali so that's fair enough, right...?). They cover similar musical territory, but this one has less of the neat rock song structures I like about SB and more looser, jam-like tunes. It is big on sizzling deserty vibes though, which I can usually get on board with.
I don't care for the blues, and this album of African blues isn't making a good case for itself.
What an absolutely fascinating record and one that conjures up so many different influences and emotions. The record meanders along at its own pace, going wherever it wants and I really respect that. I feel bad that it had never even occurred to me that kind of blues fusion could exist but it doesn't just stop there its got heavy ska and reggae influences displayed and Arabic style scales are heavily used in parts. Much drone as well drone good, me likey. Very evocative, it takes me straight back to time spent in Uganda, sitting on a bus driving long hours through the colorful streets of Kampala. I adore this album and have saved it straight away for future listens. 5/5
Surprised by this one
Only on the first song and I'm so intrigued. This just has such a raw feel.
Didn’t click
Great Vibes
Gostoso de ouvir
Я не был готов к африканскому блюзу. Это совершенно непривычная для меня музыка не только в плане текста, но и инструментала. По большей части он здесь почти что аритмичный, очень минималистичный, но в то же время очень эмоциональный и экспрессивный. Это был интересный опыт, но я не думаю, что когда-либо вернусь к этому альбому. (6.5 - 7)
Great stuff. Definitely would not have heard this without this list.
peculiar, um bom som de fundo
Very cool, but definitely seemed to drag a bit. I will probably revisit, but it's lower on my priority list than some of the other stuff. Standouts: Skipping again because this album was kind of "an experience."
sooo good
African blues is a totally new genre to me, but very interesting. The blend of the different aspects works well. Not something I would put on regularly, but I appreciated it
All I could think of as I listened to this was the speed and skill of those dying fingers. A triumphant exit.
Enjoyable... Should listen to more
Some great guitar work here, even if nothing breaks all the way through to the surface. There’s a bit of paucity in the melodic department to justify its runtime, but I could see this going on a top-tier focus playlist so I can enjoy the music while keeping my mind locked in.
I'm sure this is someone's jam but it sure ain't mine...
There are individual parts of the music I like, but not the way it's all put t9gether. I wish I liked it more, because it sure as hell is intwresting... I just don't wanna listen to it.
Well worth the listen.
This shit was sum ass. It’s some foreign chanting and folk guitar man this sounds like a whole lot of world music
J'ai reçu hier soir un message de mon ennemi juré eltrapeze me confiant son inquiétude au sujet de l'état de santé de Robert. Celui que vous connaissez probablement sous son nom complet Robert Dimery, bien qu'il eût été en Erasmus au moment de publier son grimoire des 1001, est aujourd'hui un vieux monsieur sénil. D'après les nouvelles qu'eltrapeze me donna, Robert se serait persuadé d'être africain depuis plusieurs jours. Je me rendis donc à son domicile pour évaluer la situation par moi-même. À mon arrivée, Robert m'ouvrit grand la porte avec un accoutrement pour le moins minimaliste, celui-ci étant constitué d'un simple étui-pénien. « Ti vé di thiéboudiène ? » me lança-t-il avec un accent très caricatural qu'on aurait dit tout droit sorti de Tintin au Congo. « Non merci... » répondis-je avant que celui-ci ne tchipe de la manière la plus forcée qui soit. Je décidai de lui casser une énième fois la figure.
Robert est absolument détestable. Aujourd'hui il est temps de vous dire la vérité. La présence de multiples recueils d'africanaiseries dans cette liste est dûe à un changement de comportement improbable de Robert: en effet, ce dernier est persuadé d'être africain. Lors de ma dernière visite à son domicile, je fus stupéfait de voir que Robert arborait un boubou flambant neuf. La stupeur ne fut qu'amplifiée quand ce dernier commença à m'invectiver avec une très mauvaise imitation d'accent africain: "Comment ti vas ltrapeze EH, ti as fait bon voyage?" Je m'enquis rapidement de lui demander qu'est ce qui ne tournait pas rond avec lui, mais sans même me répondre, il me pris par la main pour m'inviter à déguster "le mafé EH".
This album is good in a weird way. The guitar sounds strange, but enjoyable. It's kinda hard to put how this album sounds into words. But either way, I enjoyed it. Probably won't go looking for more music like this, but I enjoyed this. Favorite song: Beto Worst song: Gambari Didi
Nisam znala za desert blues al mi je drago da sad znam
Ja vjerujem da je ovaj album baš u krivo vrijeme došo.
So hard to rank these when they are so different from my usual listening. I enjoyed the sounds and feel
This was a pleasant surprise. I really was not sure what to expect from this album and I went in totally blind. It wasn't until it started playing that I started to look up the artist and found out the style and such. I really liked the guitar, and how the blues and the other music blended together. Definitely a style all to its own, and definitely something I will be looking in to some more.
I didn't mind it; sort of an eclectic or unique brand of blues. I don't know how much more I can say than that. It was good background music, it had some cool bluesy guitar sometimes, some cool subtle percussions other times, and overall felt more like blues meets traditional Brazilian, Spanish, Middle Eastern, South Asian, or African sounds. I know it was probably supposed to be more of the last one, but it felt more worldly.
It made for some nice background music, but in many ways it just sounded like the same song over and over. It probably didn't help that I also had no idea what he was saying. I'm sure it's really good, but I didn't need to hear it before I die.
Malia music meets delta blues
nice blues album...enjoyed it.
I enjoyed it as peaceful background music
I like blues and its always interesting to hear music from different cultures, overall it was a good sounding album
Really cool instrumentation. You can almost see a connection to delta blues. I can't understand a word of it, but that's not the point!
Estuvo ok. Igual es interesante conocer un estilo que amalgama géneros tan dispares, pero en realidad son prejuicios musicales porque escuchando el disco hace todo el sentido del mundo un blues africano.
Never heard of him, and liked many of the songs
Eh
Nice blues music, nothing special.
African blues sound like country and just didn't get on with it.
A brilliantly constructed album from an artist taken far too soon. Savane reminds its listeners that the roots of most popular music really do originate in Africa.
Very interesting- sounds like French North African blues. Easy to listen to, and to chill to. Nice rhythms. Shame this was his last album.
First time I've heard this. Really like it. Great desert blues
I dont like african country
I could listen to this all day!
Savane is the final solo African Blues album by Malian musician Ali Farka Toure - released to critical acclaim 4 months after he passed from cancer. There's not much other information about this album, but it was cool seeing a different style of blues music - one that is spiced up with African instruments and style. I believe if I was from Africa myself, then I would find this album a lot more interesting. However, I can still appreciate the difference from Western music.
Actually started well but I really struggled with the last half hour.
Drags on too much, would've been a 3 otherwise
I think I would have scored this higher had it been in English. Ties are quality but didn’t have an ‘in’ through the lyrics
I have a nostalgic attachment to Toure’s Niafunke album, but these songs are just as good. Music that makes you feel cool listening to it. Fun songs to play along to with guitar. Good variety of instruments: amplified harmonica, saxophone, etc. I like the French lyrics of Savane, wish there were more translations online for the tracks in Peul.
This would be good music for a movie. I liked it.
A beautiful mix of different genres I like
without knowing the lyrics, can feel the blues in the instruments, (perhaps the oud)
i apologize for being a broken record but i am thrilled an album like this made this list! there are a ton of western albums on the list but other areas of the world are included, too. i hadn’t heard of this artist before, but i do know an artist’s final album released around the time of their death can be heavy and full of significance. i don’t think this album is an exception. i wish i understood the lyrics without a translation service, but i appreciate music with lyrics in another language. it leaves more to the imagination. savane is a beautiful album. while i wouldn’t typically call myself a fan of blues music, i enjoyed hearing the combination of blues with african music. the result is an intriguing listen. it’s very pleasant to the ears, and is a nice tribute to touré.
This was an intriguing listen! I am really not a blues fan, but the African spin put on this type of music makes it a lot more interesting! Hearing how Ali Farka Touré interprets the genre and gives it a different flair was intriguing! He still finds a way to penetrate with his vocals, reminding the listener that this is still blues music. I felt like where the album really shined was on the guitar and other string instruments. The rapid, yet precise picking often gave things an almost Arabian-sounding quality from a musical perspective. Where I would normally find blues music boring and drawling, the vocal and string qualities made this very enjoyable as well as easy to listen to. I have never heard anything quite like this, and I definitely enjoyed the experience.
What’s striking about this album is the fact that it is clearly a blues album and clearly a Malian album fusing to form desert blues. The instrumentation was really interesting and everything just fit together really well. This album feels familiar and unfamiliar at the same time in a way that is wonderfully tantalizing. The groove is great, and the guitar playing is novel.
Heel leuke Afrikaanse blues! Unieke sound met een leuke mix van verschillende genres
I'm really happy to finally have West Africa in this project. It was definitely worth being included as noteworthy and interesting. I really appreciated hearing the connection to West African music and African-American blues. That said, this one felt a bit more like homework than listening for pleasure, so I’m not putting it in my rotation, but I'm still glad to have experienced this.
Without this listening project, I don't think that I would have ever given this one a listen. I found it very interesting, but I think it will require a few more listens before I embrace it as a regular listen.
I thought I had an idea of what to expect from "The King of the desert 'blues' singers," but I really didn't. My first listen, the music was mostly background for work and was, at best, unobtrusive or, worse, boring. It didn't seem to have the hooks I expect from blues. But on a second, more focused listen, I started to appreciate it more. It's not an easy listen for my ears --- unexpected timing and rhythm, lyrics in a language I don't understand --- but it is interesting and different and I do like it.
I’m pretty new to the blues, and have never heard this particular style. I had no idea that music could feel so genuinely bluesy and African at the same time. Some of the songs felt very similar to the blues of the American south while others sounded more Arab-influenced. The album sort of flowed over me and partway through my first listen I really started to connect with it. There’s something very inviting and soothing here. I’m not sure how often I will revisit this but I’m very glad to experience this album.
I really enjoy this a lot.
Not your typical Afropop, but still very similar sounding throughout the album. Nothing special. 2.5/5
was fine
Not my type of music. It wasn't really bad, it just didn't really jump out at me. It started to sound repetitious after a few songs.
Repetitive, recalls John Lee Hooker a tiny bit. I like lots too of blues and I like lots of afrobeat, but did not enjoy this.
Cool album, would like to dig more into this artist's catalog - grew on me with the lush and layered instrumentation - 3.5 stars
Is this supposed to be good just because it uses some less familiar rhythms and it is sung in a language we don't understand? It just plain isn't very good at all. The rhythms don't keep to their own time structures, the instrumentation doesn't keep to the rhythms and the vocals are lacking in inspiration and emotion. For supposedly the king of the desert blues this is very flat indeed. The album was released posthumously, and it may be that Touré's illness had an impact on the quality of the music, but if this is the case then surely some other, earlier work should be in the 1001, not this. Songhoy Blues is far superior.
Wel helemaal afgedraaid, maar het kwam allemaal niet echt binnen!
Nope
Dit is gewoon echt niet mijn muziek.
Stuk beter dan die Afrikaanse muziek van een paar dagen geleden, al had ik het na een paar nummers wel gehoord.
I feel like I’ve been tortured by the child of country music and the music I was surrounded by as a child.
Pretty organic album. But unfortunately only one track is really good. (5/10) FT: Savane, Soko Yhinka
One's not actually qualified to assess the subtleties of this one or whether Mali was some secret fount of the blues. But one likes it a lot nonetheless, as one has almost everything one's heard from AFT (especialy In the Heart of the Moon).Plenty of haunting melodies and straight-up blues riffs. At once listenable and substantive, rootsy in the best sense (that is, having great depth). And certainly one wishes one knew what was being sung. One expects it would be soulful and wise.
Rating: 6/10 Best songs: Soya
Really liked this one.
Instrumental de cordas africano com muito poder.
Hypnotic
Interesting stuff.
Amazing album. Great world music. Great instrumentals. Awesome find.
It was nice when I wanted to relax after work. The melody felt like I was in another world which I appreciate since I don’t get to travel as much as I like to.
Not varied enough to hold my long term interest I am afraid
Very unique blend of sounds, and a fun listen overall.
African rock. Slow. Drones on
бля
I tried to connect with this. A whole lot of sounds and harmonies that don't work for my western ears, which is of course my failing and not theirs. Still doesn't stand out for me. Best track: Savane
I know of Ali Farka Touré, but I can't say how much, if any, of his music that I've heard. I enjoyed these African Blues songs. The guitar work on "Gambari Didi" had my attention. I didn't mark many of the tracks for a relisten, but there wasn't anything on the album that I disliked. I'll round up to 4 stars.
I never know how to review these foreign language world albums. Guitar work was solid.
When one traces the origins of their meal, they discover that even a simple pasta has traveled extensively; the tomatoes are from Mexico, the wheat from Ukraine, the eggs from New England, and the onions from Quebec. This album, too, has such strong roots in so many different communities. It is a deliciously simple dish with ingredients from West Africa, South Africa, France, USA, and the Arabian Gulf. It isn't the kind of dish that you discover, beg your friend for the recipe, and put into your regular rotation of meals at home. And when you prep it, it takes you to all those different moments with your friends across so many different places.
partaj!
Il y a des chansons vraiment magiques sur cet album. Cependant, ca ressemble beaucoup à son matériel. Pas que c'Est pas bon, mais Talkin Timbuktu est mon preféré et je dois être conséqent dans mes notes. Un belle écoute. 4.15
I thought this was fine.
Ok this is pretty cool, it's got a dirty blues sound to it but also an African/Arabic flavour. Wouldn't listen again but I also feel like the project did what it was meant to do with this album. 3/5.
3, africa
За оригинальность однозначно плюс. Интересный сплав блюза и африканских мотивов. Однако сам материал не зацепил. Не было песни, которая бы заставила поставить себе лайк и прослушать ещё раз. 5 из 10.
Sensational guitarist, hypnotic rhythms and really interesting musically - time signatures, scales and use of intervals entirely different to western ears, but still recognisably the blues - Malian style. I love this.
I actually hadn't heard of Ali Farka Toure before this album came up and was fascinated what "African desert blues" sounded like. It's a pretty accurate description of the music and my first impression is that I love the guitar sound and the grooves. The songs are interesting and I will revisit this and some of his other recordings in the near future. Another cool find!
On one hand, this is blues that often sounds and feels like John Lee Hooker and at other times sound exotic in that "wow, who could have imagined they make music in non Western and non English speaking countries [hint-hint-nudge-nudge to the curators of this list, who seem to think such music is some sort of an exotic exception]". On the other hand, over the course of an hour, I got the point and frankly got bored, too.
Around 30 years ago, I was working with a client that had a gold project in Mali. I was intrigued with the country and sought out some local music. This is how I found Ali Farka Toure and his splendid guitar licks. He was a legend and the artist who attracted me to West African music. His album with Ry Cooder's in the mid 90s brought him well deserved exposure in North America. After this, he retreated to Timbuktu to revert to playing weddings and spend his "fortune" fixing sewers near his home town. What a man. His final musical offering is as good as they get. RIP
There is a nice delta blues feel to this album. I like the addition of sax and flute and of course background singers.
Smooth, I like it.
First listen.
This was an interesting listen. I liked it.
Really fantastic guitar work.
Ritmos africanos y étnicos. Sin más. No destaca especialmente. Ritmos suaves y acompasados. No es de mi gusto
Skemmtilega öðruvísi plata.
Liked this more than I expected. bluesy and country-ish but without the awful truckdriver lyrics.
Not my vibe.
Hårt ……. ……
Really like this. Very well executed sound that envelops you. StronG 4
Swagane
Rich, warm, laid back sound. Loved it. Fave Songs: Soya, Savane, Soko Yhinka, N'Jarou, Banga, Hanana, Gambari Didi
Lovely - blues and jazz with a Malian twist - warm and enchanting from end to end.
Thoroughly entertaining, infectious grooves from the master.
Respectable African guitar music from Ali, you wouldn't tell that this was his final effort. The minimal arrangements in the songs makes it stand out at times. Favorites: Erdi, Beto, Soya, Soko Yhinka.
I really liked this album. It has a droning quality to the music that took me off guard...reminded me of Miles Davis' In A Silent Way. Some really interesting sounds that are hard to place what instruments are making them. But musically it works. It has, to these ears anyway, Indian elements and middle eastern as well as African. I like the languid pace and the way the guitar circles in and out of the African rhythms offering colour to the beautiful tunes. 4.25 🌟
World Music? Is that condescending? Proto blues, some cool call and response vocals. Guitar noodling all around, it was sometimes captivating.
This is not something I'd generally play, but it's a great piece of work
Another one I’d listen to again. Love the desert blues sound from beginning to end, with nice variation in mood throughout. Amazing voice and arrangements too.
I've become attracted of late to any form of tribal music. I love the romanticism and mystique that surrounds it. It's like a non-Western partisan and radical approach to music. Rocking the Casbah, etc. Ali Farka Touré has some great chants and even better blues. I've no idea what it all means, but I'm ready to enter the frontline.
Yes, all very good and fine, but really not my kind of thing. All sound very samey
Decent blues with African twist
This album creates a very specific ambience. It's a humid summer night in the south, I'm on an airboat en route to a Louisiana gumbo party, just cruising through the bayou. I wanna get there while the cornbread is still warm, but I'm also not rushing. I've never done any of those things in my life, but if I close my eyes while I listen to this album I feel like I might have.
Una das mejores descobertas deste guía
Enjoyable mix of African and blues music, no idea what the lyrics mean.
Afrikanisch/arabischer Blues ohne große nennenswerte Höhepunkte aber auch nicht schlecht.
Could not get into the music. African Blues is one of those genres that I cannot enjoy, even if it is my a famous artist or groundbreaking work.
quality music
Took me a little while to warm up to this but it really grew on me once I was a few songs in!
Some very nice chill vibes, I just found it a bit lukewarm and couldn't get into it.
Weirdly I thought the album got stronger as it went on - loved the last few songs.
This was pretty great! One that I had not heard of at all so had no expectations coming in, and it was a really interesting listen. I will definitely be checking out some more of his work
It's an interesting take on some classic blues, but I have to admit I zoned out quite hard a few times. Just didn't super interest me. Favorite track: "Beto"
An interesting fusion of the exotic sounds of North West Africa, blues and folk. Not speaking the local dialect means I obviously don't have any clue what the songs are about, which means I focused on the sounds, the grooves and the feel of the music. There are some non western scales, which gives the songs an exotic edge. Overall not bad, but I wasn't blown away in the same way the first time I heard music by John Berberian or my beloved album by The Gurus.
Interesting enough as background music, but not something I’d choose to listen to
Some really nice sounds but probably wouldn't listen again.
Warm and rich and lovely. A great discovery
Refreshingly different.
Great music to have on in the background. Mellow. Enjoyed it. Read up on the production of the album, Touré had cancer and knew it'd be his last album. Puts perspective on the enjoyment and spirit of musicianship, over commercial incentive.
Not my type of music.
seemed promising but i don’t like it sorry. not very fun
I sincerely wish I could play guitar as well as Ali. A fantastic album and introduction to African blues/guitar. The layering of instruments is enchanting, and everything from melody to accompaniment feels absolutely fresh and interesting.
Awesome
Didn't like it that much
pretty good, not a big fan of the genre but I think it’s executed pretty well, the songs are nice and diverse and pretty groovy 7/10
No no, de binguna manera.
Blues africano. Un tanto rollo. Le pongo un 3 por agradecer que metan cosas distintas en la lista...
Es como india o africana ... cansina. No me ha gustado. Antes le puse un 3. Ahora un 2.
“It was released to high critical acclaim.”
Not my favorite Toure album, but I haven't heard a bad album from the man.
Pretty chill but not a bop.
Beautiful blues album
Took me a few songs to get into it
Really good. Unlike anything I've heard.
the looser songs are lovely
Medio gede por momentos, pero linda música.
I couldn't get into it. Not bad, just not for me.
Not my thing
Neat tunes. Not entirely my style but I respect the musicianship immensely.
I loved it that I listened to the album again.
Pretty good. Very bluesy with a heavy African vibe.
Never should language be a barrier to enjoying music. This album is fun and will make ya wanna dance
This is what I'd put on in the background of a neighborhood party to give people the impression I'm deep and interesting. Some will find it annoying and be reminded of the human torture scene from Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom. Those are the people who leave early and giveaway the fact they're not cut out for the Swingers Lifestyle. Everyone else grabs a random set of keys from the petri dish and goes home with a delightful stranger.
Not really my thing
23rd September 2021 Listened to the majority on the bus home from bowling with Cox, Dan and Ailis. I really enjoyed this, not what I was expecting. I like the bluseyness, it's epherial and primal.
Its was ok, I couldn't really get into it and I fully blame my more "western" tastes.
Not for me.
Maybe I'm too close-minded on 'world music', but I found this nice-but-meh
Has some influences of Robert Johnson, only 90 years later. Sound a bit dull, sloppy and some instruments are out of tune. And boy, I do miss the percussion.
Het turkse muziekinstrument klinkt wel grappig, maar de muziek zelf is wat rommelig. Ik vind het niks eigenlijk. De Arabische spraak vind ik ook niet lekker klinken in deze muziek. *
Het lijkt wel alsof het is opgenomen met een glas over de microfoon..
Mix van blues, afrikaans, arabische muziek. Interessant, maar voor mij niet lang te luisteren.
Such a cool and interesting listen!
Mit schlechtem Gewissen sage ich’s: weltmusik für mich schwer…
Weniger ausgefallen als befürchtet
Auch bei diesem Machwerk hatte ich vorher schlimmste Befürchtungen. Die sich nicht im geringsten bewahrheitet haben. Das Genre African Blues war mir gänzlich unbekannt. Diese Platte ist sehr geil. Der Vergleich mit John Lee Hooker drängt sich bei Touré sehr leicht auf, aber es gibt schlimmeres, als nach Hooker zu klingen.
No way! I read Matthew Mcconaughey biography recently and he mentioned this guy as his favourite artist. I listened and got hooked, can't believe he's on top 1001 albums! Buzzin, real cool, proper unique and different to anything I've ever listened to, like African meets American Western, Bluesy. Sick music for late night with a whiskey 🙏 4/5
5/10
What a delight this was, excelent.
3.5/5. Different and good. I like the instrumentals throughout the album.
This album was a really cool change of pace. It's sound is both familiar and novel at the same time. I wouldn't have envisioned the mixture of American blues and African music to be so seamless, but this feels like it was meant to be. The intricacy of the guitar adds a lot to this album 5/5
Cool album, lots of interesting guitar Parts and lots of cool sounds
A 2.5... ok enough for a light listen. I liked the depth of the music, in both the different instruments as well as the accents of blues, Indian, Caribbean, Spanish etc... Most of the songs in themselves were repetitive and sometimes too long. Plus not being able to take away anything lyrically and the spoken/chanting vocals knock it down for me. And was generally kinda over it by the end.
2.5 bumped to a 3 because I did enjoy quite a bit of the instrumentation.
the progression of songs was quite slow, but i enjoyed most tracks
I’ll throw a couple of tracks into a blues or afternoon mix. Interesting song construction and melodies.
this kind of slaps very chill
An interesting fusion of genres, but whilst enjoyable, not sure I would go out of my way to listen.
There's a characteristic riff/line/warmup/intro in desert blues. It's not exactly a scale, so my mind makes a weak connection to ragas. This record has it in several places. Sometimes, a tune emerges from that stem, but more often the rest of the track crashes down in a percussive, deconstructed cascade. Those songs are the weirdest blues songs I've ever heard. Their coherence in incoherence is an order of magnitude stranger than any set of effects or recording techniques. Nothing here is particularly abstract, though: There is always the sense and sound of the instrument in the recording, which makes the crashing seem like that of blocks of wood. All that is just what caught my ear on the first listen. The songs that are different are also physical, but are far less formally strange. Energy crackles, but seemingly from behind a facade.
Really enjoyed this, especially the first couple of songs and the title song. Will definitely listen to again (in fact, I listened to it again immediately), but I foresee I won't always be in the mood for it.
Very good alternative to the US / England concept of the blues. I also hear some jazz and middle eastern music in here. Similar to the Jimmy Page / Robert Plant Led Zeppelin Unplugged album.
Aside from not understanding the language, it's pretty good blues.
So good!!! Absolutely smooth, guitar is just another vocals and it blends beautifully with the music. Distinctly African and also distinctly Blues. Fantastic!
I did not enjoy this album.
Might be a decent album for background noise, otherwise I don't see myself listening to it much more.
I really enjoyed this, very fun to drive around to. It’s not something I would have listened to before but I can actually see myself listening to it again should I be in the mood. So for an album I’ve never listened to in a style I don’t usually consider I’m gonna give the 5 star
Ok, I’ll just going to say it, it sounds like a bunch of guys having a music session together rather than a actual album. I mean maybe that’s the intention I dunno but with the exception of the album title track they all just passed me by. I like to think I’m pretty diverse and open minded with my music tastes but after a week of doing these reviews it appears that I’m not, so there’s that.
Not my cup of tea, but I wont discredit it from the genre. I didnt dislike it so a solid middle ground seems fair.
I will admit to this one being a DNF. But that's not because it's bad music - it definitely isn't. But blues isn't generally my genre as it's too slow and steady. It gets 2 because I love the harmonisation between the voices and instruments on the tracks I did listen to.
Loved this
Great Album, i never heard African Blues, it's very cool
Foreign yet familiar. Chill but lively. Music imitating life, or is it the other way around?
I love the guitar on this album! A lot of the songs weren't my favorite, but I appreciate the musicianship on display here!
Not my thing but I appreciate the effort.
great vibes chill relax cool
Anti perfectionist approach to this album, I like it already. Although, opening track began to feel like a loop towards the end. Stronger vocals presence in the 2nd track. But not too compelling.... A different variation in the 3rd track but after a few seconds it shows that this song is just like the first two in terms of instrumentals. Not my type of album. Needs more variation for me. 2 stars.
This was surprisingly delicious. The songs didn't really go anywhere, but they didn't really need to. They just chilled out and did their thing; I like that.
Would be nice to have on out the back of the new Toowong pool hall while smoking a shisha but otherwise probably wouldn’t re-listen to be honest. Cool sounds though.
It's good. It's slow. It sounds like the background music in a organic café.
Worth a go. A bit different.
Nice memories
I like the genre/style of the album, but an hour of it drags on and gets a bit repetitive
Enjoyed well
Coming deep out of left field (Mali to be exact), this album has a lot of grizzled soul. Songs tend to be overly long and overstay their welcome with little variation to justify their length. This ultimately becomes an exercise in how much one can "appreciate" world music in one sitting, which isn't very long for me.
This sort of presented itself to me as sort of a psychedelic, middle eastern flavored blues record. I guess not exactly Amercican blues but it was close and definitely had a similar sound until the phrase would resolve in sort of a microtonal/different way to the American ear. I enjoyed this though
Really liked this. Amazing guitar player
Otro comentario de mi estilo. Que está muy bien, pero me cansé a la mitad.
Though the language gap was limiting, the music was really cool. I could see myself listening to this again.
Not my thing
No idea what this about but its a bloody Jam!
2/5
Interesting indeed... just not my cup of tea...
No me gusta nada la música africana
This has a feeling of soul. Passes lingual barriers, and just damn good to jam to.
A generous three stars. It's fine. I like the odd AFT track in isolation, but this album was a little numbing. The guitars twang, the rhythms lollop along pleasantly, but nothing really stuck. A nice diversion into Malian music, which I genuinely have some fondness for, but there's better stuff out there. There's better AFT music, for starters
Es como india o africana ... cansina. No me ha gustado.
I don’t remember it
I'm sure this is an amazing album for a lot of people but it just didn't do it for me. The title track, Savane, was probably my favorite.
Blues originates from African traditions, became what it is in the American South, and returned to Africa and further evolved, and today I heard for the first time this evolution. It sounds really interesting, I loved the guitar work. Was enjoyable to explore.
Chill blues
Very cool desert blues, moody
Wasn't my jam, couldn't get into the messy sounding music.
Esta como entre Radiohead y the Nationals, pero mas blusero.
Throw in a fuzz pedal and drop that guitar down to B tuning and this could be a pretty rad drone metal record. As is, not something I’ll likely listen to again but I love how clean and clear the production is. Dude looks pretty cool on the cover there. I want that chair.
5
African folk blues.. Easy listen
Very nice blues album. Good quality songs.
enjoyed this one
This is really interesting, partly because I can’t quite figure out what it is. There are times I think I hear Arabic, and then times when I think I hear French. And it sounds mostly Arabic, but then sometimes it doesn’t. It’s so interesting.
Super unique feel to his music. It seems to be all tuned the same way with open strings. Love his voice although I couldn’t tell you what he’s saying. Makes me think of cold night in the desert
Not super interesting
Strong. I need to explore his music a lot more.
neat
Cover vibes: thousand starts Actual content: 1 little star :(
Blues sencillo y Cha-bo-chon.
Not for me
Foreign language, strange melody. Didn't like it.
Familiarity: 0/10 Notes: I have no idea what he was singing about, but man I loved in. African Folk, instruments playing different rhythms, soothe sounds, Ali Farka Touré transcends his language, I thoroughly enjoyed the album throughout. Real Rating 7/10
Didn't give this as much time as it probably deserved
some nice rhythms, but overall wasn't for me
REALLY good. 5 stars.
Not for me
I like it. Random blues world music vibe
It was neat
I say this is in the nicest way possible: this sounds like a CD my parents would randomly own in the early 2000s that they'd play for us while on road trips because of its somewhat jazzy and folky stylings remind them of Celtic music they enjoyed, and it would become a part of my subconscious moving forward without me ever knowing what it was. Really good!
I wanted to like this more, but not really for me.
Interesting to venture out into a world that I normally do not go to. Great guitar work, overall a decent album
Not bad, some cool sounds
Interesting
Good musically
i mean i wouldnt play it on my own but its pretty nice musically
If this album had English lyrics, it would be an easy 5-star. Maybe a strange reason to penalize it, but I really wanted to understand what was being sung.
African (Malian to be specific) blues is... well, it's a niche sound. I've rubbed up against it in the form of the artist Bombino before but this is a whole different level of unique. It... it FEELS like the blues. But, at the same time, it feels distinctly african. There are harminicas, banjos, and guitars... but also hand drums and some sort of unique stringed instrument (Zither? Kora? Not sure.) mixed in. It all combines into a wild and entrancing musical experience. Ali's voice is pure blues. Even though I can't understand most of what he's saying (though some of the album is in french, thankfully), his emotion comes right through the language barrier untarnished. Apparently, this album was released posthumously and, while I'm glad the world has this album, it's a crying shame that we lost this talent because the album is just really really good.
Vestafrikansk, c2c-sample, god vokal
Love hearing different kinds of music. Guy is a hell of a guitar player
Just not my thing
A very interesting record. I have not listened to much Malian before.
Background music for coffee shops.
Prefer the grooviest parts. Very good.
4